Power ventilator for roofs



1959 H. KNUTSON ET AL 2,868,105

POWER VENTILATOR FOR ROOFS Filed July 15, 1953 IIIHHHIII V I6 INVENTORS.

64 HAROLD KNUT sow BY HAROLD e. KNUTSON United States Patent POWER VENTILATOR =FOR ROOFS Harold Knutson. and Harold G. Knutson, v Chicago, Ill.

Application July 15, 1 953',-'Serial"No. 368,158

3 Claims. (Cl."98-.-43)

, This invention relates to a power ventilator for roofs to be operated either as 'avolume'exhaust or an air intake.

The ordinary roof ventilatorusually-opens directly to the atmosphere in aseries of louvers which-permit the free exhaust or inlet of gasesor air.

The present invention provides a covered type of ventilator in which a power fan'is installed in an up- "i'ight position -and a cover therefor is 'made removable "for 'easy access tothe interior 'fan and its motor, and the cover is formed with 'deflectors'bywhich the exhaust gases or the incoming air is guided under the cover and into the vertical portion of the ventilator.

-Animportant object of the invention isto providea roo'f type ventilator having 'a movable 'cover with *a curved 'deflector therein-for directing air and gases into -and'out of the ventilator from the under-sides of the :cover.

A'further object of the invention istoprovide a power 'ventilator'unit which is -removably-mounted in a ver- 'tical portion of the ventilatorand is "removable from the-topthereof by moving the cover.

A 'still' further object of the'invention is to provid -a suitable support for a fan motor which-is-cushioned in the ventilator-to-reduce'thenoise and vibration of the motor drive.

A still further 'object of -the-inventionis to provide a-motor drive in whichthe fan is centrally locatedin a ventilator but the driving -motor is located at one sideand out of the central path of-air or gases in the -ventilator.

Other objects ofthe invention will'appear in the specification and will be apparent from the "accompanying drawings in which,

'Fig. 1 is-a side elevation of-a-ventilator'in'accordance with-this invention, parts of-the-ventilator easing being omitted andshowinga motor'fan unit-therein and with the fan'at'thetop and'motor fixed in the center.

Fig. '2 isan elevational view of the structureshown in Fig.1 and atrightaangles thereto, part of the casing being omittedfor showing the motor support'in elevation.

.-'Fig.ji3-is.a viewsimilar to Fig. ,lzshowing: the motor drive unit with the fan at the bottom andthe" motor -:at one side;

:Fig. 4 is an elevational view-with parts broken-away =atright angles to the structurewshown in Fig. I3xfl11d .Fig. Sis a perspective view showing the pivotal and :sliding connection of the cover-with the casing. J-In ventilators of this type, the power fan-may-be goperated bya motor located centrally ,of the=ventilator or at one side ofthe center andvconnected to the fan by a power belt. In-either form, the entire power fan astructure may .be mounted uponrazframe which. is bodily frremovable "from .the ventilator by; first removingaor Edisplacing the top, and the power fan unit is cushioned at the sides and bottom to reduce noise and vibration.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a

:within the cover.

2,858,1d5 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 ventilator casing 10 is preferably rectangular in shape and has a corresponding base 12 somewhat larger in @casinghas an opening equal to the roof opening inside of the curb.

At :the top of the casing is a cover 13 with a rectangular base larger in both dimensions than the corresponding dimensions of the casing 10 so that when centrally located upon the casing, it overlaps the easing at all sides. Opposite sides 20 of the cover are rounded inwardly together from the opposite edges and crown sheets 22 are inclined toward the center Where a joint ortatconnecting rib 24 is commonly provided.

At opposite side edges of the cover are inwardly extending flanges 25 with an upwardly turned edge '26 which may be formed from the cover material. At-

tached above each flange along the side is an inwardly extending angle bar 27 spaced above the upwardly turned edge ofithe flange. A pivoting bar 28 is attached to the .upper edge or" one end of the casing 10 and the extremities project beyond the sides of the casing and Each extremity preferably has a circularend 29 at each end of the bar which is larger than the "bar 28 to engage in the space between the flange 25, the upwardly turned edge 26 thereof and the overlying angle bar 27 so that it is held against disengaging "movement, thereby allowing the cover to slide and to pivot about the fixed bar 28 when the. opposite. side of the cover is raised and moved toward the fixed pivot.

At the side of the casing 10 opposite the fixed bar 28 'is an angle bar 39 attached to the side of the casing and projecting from the sides thereof into the path of the flanges .25 and the cover so that when the cover is lowered upon the top of the casing, the adjacent edges will contact the projections of the bar 30 and will hold this side of the cover in place, the other side being supported above the pivot bar 28. Any suitable lock such as a bolt 31 may be connected to the cover for holding it in the closed position. In order to have free access to'the interiorof the casing 10, the free edge of the cover it; is disengaged from any fastening means and this edge is raised clear of the ends of the supporting bar 3%, the cover is slid oppositely under the fixed bar 28 and at the same time it may be raised and rotated downwardly to a somewhat inclined position as shown by the broken outline of the casing in Fig. 1.

Within the casing and preferably at the sides thereof near the bottom are angle bar supports 32 extending inwardly for engaging a cross frame of angle bars or other suitable supports 34 which are spaced apart to receive an angular supporting bracket 36 upon which an electric motor 38 is secured with its axes in an upright position. To this axis is secured a hub 40 for supporting a plurality of radiating fan blades .42 extending radially therefrom.

With this construction, the motor and the fan .are

disposed centrally of the casing and the supporting frame 34 together with the bracket 36 may be engaged by the angle bar supports 32 either with the'fan at the .in any wellknown manner as by means of a switch 44 0 in an energizing circuit to the motor.

Inside of the top of the casing are deflectors 46 extending from a common point above the center of the lower edge of the cover in its closed position and curvlng upwardly at opposite sides thereof in substantially I the same curvature as the sides 20 so that smooth and rounded paths are made in the cover about a transverse center extending to the opposite edges internally of the fan and thereby guiding and directing air, gases and other materials from the inside of the casing and discharging them upwardly, outwardly and downwardly below the lower edge of the cover if the fan is rotated in one direction and drawing air and gases inwardly abouta reverse path when the [an is rotated in a reverse direction.

The ends of these curved guides preferably terminate at a short distance from the adjacent sides at the ends of the deflectors as shown more particularly in Fig. 2 so that the ends of the deflectors partially overlapthe casing but do not extend to the end of the cover, thereby leaving a space around the ends of the deflectors so that no closed pockets are made in the cover, the path from the beginning of one deflector at the center of the cover to the corresponding edge of the cover being substantially rounded and of approximately the same curvature,

For some installations, it may be desirable to locate the motor in an off-center position and at one side of the fan. This may be accomplished by providing an upright support 48 attached to the supporting cross pieces 34 and at right angles thereto with a motor 50 attached to the support 43 at one side of the center as shown more clearly in Fig. 4 with a fan 52 mounted upon a shaft 54 supported centrally on the support 48 by brackets 56. At the upper end of the shaft is a large pulley 58 and secured to the corresponding end of the motor shaft is a smaller driving pulley 60 connected by a belt 62. The motor will rotate the fan in either direction depending upon the direction of rotation of the motor and with. this arrangement, the supports 34 are also engaged by the fixed angle bar supports 32 so that the fan 52 may be disposed at the bottom of the casing as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 or by reversing the motor fan assembly, the fan may be disposed at the top of the casing as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

To cushion the motor fan mounting in the casing and to minimize the vibration and noise when the fan is rotated, a rubber cushion 64 may be interposed between the bracket 36 and the supporting bars 34 as shown in Fig. 1, and rubber bumpers 66 may be interposed between the side rail supports 32 and the angle bar supports 34 of the power fan installation.

With this construction, the ventilator may be used for admitting air and the fan may be located either at the top or bottom of the casing or the ventilator may be used for exhausting air or gases from the inside of the ventilator outwardly through the cover and in that case, the fan may also be located at the top or bottom of the ventilator casing as desired. For discharging or moving certain gases or other materials through the ventila-- tor, it may be desirable to locate the motor at one side of the center of the fan out of the direct central path of the material impelled through the casing by the fan.

While preferred embodiments of the invention are thus described in some detail, they should be regarded as illustrations or examples rather than as limitations or restrictions of the invention, since various changes in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A ventilator having a hollow rectangular casing open at the top and bottom, a power fan located in the casing, a cover for the casing overlapping and extending beyond it at opposite sides and ends and extending upwardly above the top of the casing with transverse deflectors curved upwardly, outwardly and downwardly from a common juncture above the power fan for guiding gaseous materials to and from the fan inward and outwardly at the bottom and around the edges of the cover, means at one end of the casing to mount the cover for sliding and pivotal movement from a horizontal position over the top of the casing to a substantially vertical position at one end of the casing and to return therefrom to horizontal position, the said means comprising a fixed bar at one end of the casing having circular ends which project beyond the opposite sides and the cover having supporting members at the lower inside edges of the sides engageable above and below the projecting ends of said bar forming a pivoting guideway of such a length that the cover can be tilted upwardly from the end opposite said bar from a closed position to pivot and slide relative to the bar for swinging the cover to one end of the top and uncovering the casing.

2. A roof ventilator comprising in combination 9. rectangular hollow casing open at its top and bottom v adapted to be mounted on a roof over an opening therein,

a power fan rotatably mounted in the casing, a rectangular cover mounted on the casing, all four inner side walls of the cover spaced a substantial distance outward from the side walls of the casing, the casing having downwardly concave guides extending from the center toward opposite ends to cause free flow of air downwardly outward on all four sides of the casing, means for mounting the cover on the casing comprising a pair of bars of greater length than the width of the casing fastened along their medial portions to opposite upper edges of the casing, the outer ends of the bars extending across said substantial distance between the casing and the inner side walls of the cover, one of said bars having 'means at'its outer ends upon which one end of the cover rests when in itslowered position, the other of said bars having pivots at its outer ends on which the cover is mounted for swinging movement, and the cover having means forming guideways along the inner edges of the side walls slidably engaged by said pivots so that the cover is mounted for a joint pivotal and sliding movement from a horizontal position in which it is held by the ends of the bars turning over the top of the casing and slidable to a variable vertical position at the pivotal end of the casing, and to return therefrom to the said horizontal position. v

3. In a roof ventilator in accordance with claim 2, the guideways of the cover comprising inwardly and upwardly turned flanges at opposite edges of the cover and a retaining bar secured to the inside of the cover parallel to but spaced from the upwardly turned flange at each side, and the said pivots of the pivoting bar having circular ends which are rotatable between said flanges and said retaining bars and are held against endwise displacement by the upwardly turned portions of the flanges.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

